Group asks for hate crime investigation into shooting of Muslim taxi driver in Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH – The FBI is reviewing the shooting of a Pittsburgh cab driver after a Muslim civil rights group asked the Justice Department to determine if it was a hate crime.

Authorities said the 38-year-old Muslim taxi driver was shot in the back on Thanksgiving in the city's Hazelwood section. The Moroccan immigrant, who hasn't been identified, is hospitalized in stable condition.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations says the shooter asked the driver about his background and if he was from Pakistan. The group says the man asked about the Islamic State group and satirized the Prophet Muhammad.

A spokesman with the FBI's Pittsburgh branch says investigators are reviewing the shooting the same way they review crimes that appear to be racially motivated. Police are still searching for the shooter.